


White Rabbit

by PepsiRabbit



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-08-08 02:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7739311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PepsiRabbit/pseuds/PepsiRabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since the death of his sister, Ruben has always been focused on school and work. When he finds Leslie wandering in the road during a rainy night, he finds the albino carrying demons in his head and a secret. Despite possibly losing his status as valedictorian, Ruben is determined to follow this white rabbit's lead and figure out the possible secrets hiding behind the closed doors of Crimson High School.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The White Rabbit

Your name is Ruben Victoriano. You’re a senior in high school and you’re not exactly the most popular person around. People know you and respect you, but you don’t have that many friends. There are a few, but you wouldn’t even say you’re close with them. You keep to yourself and your work. You want to be a doctor. Not just any doctor, a psychologist. You want to understand people’s minds and really get in there in the nitty gritty details. Although, there’s one drawback you try not to let out. You’re definitely a sadist. Any time there is a dissection in your science classes, you mutilate it. You, of course, always have everything done though. Ruben Victoriano is not one to have zeros or incomplete work!

Even when you lost your sister, you dove head first into your school work. It was the only thing you had to cope. You lost her during your sophomore year to a house fire and you’re still not over it. You don’t talk about it. You try not to even think about it. Anyone who speaks her name will be on the receiving end of a beat down. It was still just too fresh in your mind. The wound hadn’t healed yet and you just couldn’t deal with it. Not now anyways. That was future Ruben’s problem. You just could not face it. She wouldn’t want you getting hurt anyways. Look to the future, Ruben. Just always look to the future. You tell yourself that every single time she creeps into your mind.

You’re jolted from your thoughts when you hear a car honk behind you. You’ve been sitting at the stop sign for ages just thinking, completely forgetting there was traffic behind you. You grip the steering wheel of your car a little tighter and lower your foot onto the gas, moving out the way for the other car behind you. You can hardly see in front of you. It’s pouring down raining. You hear thunder now and again after a bright flash that blinds you. You hate driving in the rain. It’s dangerous and frankly it’s stupid to try and navigate in weather like this, but you had work earlier that day and now you had to get home somehow. What, were you going to walk?

You turn onto a smaller road that goes through a neighborhood while your thoughts start to wander again. You’ve been working part time as a psychiatrist’s assistant at the local psych clinic and your mind becomes preoccupied with all the different cases from that day that you helped with. You begin thinking about the paperwork you have to sort through later tonight for your boss. You can’t wait until you’re the doctor and you can push little interns around and make people get you coffee. You chuckle at the idea of you being in charge, but you quite like that idea.

Your foot slams on the brakes suddenly as you see someone walk out in the middle of the road. You stop just in time so you don’t hit him, but your car does bump him and he seems to toddle to the side some, confused by the bump. You can’t stop panting as your eyes take in the sight. There’s a teen in front of your car, soaking wet, lit up by your headlights. His hair is pure white and he’s toddling around like some lost duckling. He looked into the car for a moment, shielding his eyes from your headlights with his hands. He’s dressed in a large dark green hoodie and grey sweatpants.

You quickly get out of the car and walk over to him.

“What are you doing in the middle of the road!?” You demand. You’re actually not angry. You’re way more concerned than anything else. He could have gotten himself hit! You feel your stomach tighten when you see that this boy is barefoot. Where are his shoes? The white haired boy looked up at you. His eyes are a pale blue color. You recognize him immediately.

“Leslie?” You asked. He was a junior that was in your English class. He was one of those special students with learning disabilities. At least, you think so. That’s what you’ve heard floating around school.  Leslie looks at you with wide eyes. He says nothing. You feel uncomfortable with him staring at you like that. Why isn’t he saying anything? 

You pull your coat off and wrap it around his shoulders, then guide him over to the passenger’s side of your car. You open the door and help him into the seat and buckle him up. You close the door and get back into the car and start to drive. The car is silent. The only sound is the rain on the windshield and the wipers pushing the rain away. You sneak a few glances at Leslie while you drive. He’s shivering. His white hair is sticking to his forehead and water is running down his pale face in rivulets.

“What are you doing out alone?” You finally ask once you pull up to a stop sign. 

“R-Run..run..” Leslie said quietly in response. “Bad..very bad..get away..”

You furrow your brow trying to make sense of what he’s saying. Okay, so something bad happened and he ran away from it, but what was he running from? Was someone after him? Was someone looking for him? You don’t know whether or not to turn the car around and go right back to where you found him and wait for someone, but you think better about it. If someone is trying to hurt him, you can’t just let them have him. What little you know about Leslie is that Leslie is a very innocent person and wouldn’t hurt a fly. He thinks of peace first before of ever considering violence or mean actions. 

“Where do you live?” You ask. “I’ll drive you home-”

“No!” Leslie suddenly shouted, catching you off guard.

You look over quickly and he shrinks back in the seat, pulling your coat around him more. 

“N-No. Just..p-please..no home..no go.” 

“Fine, you’re staying with me tonight, then.” 

You hit the gas and pull away from the stop sign. You sneak a glance over at him as you drive. You just can’t stop looking at him. There’s something about him that fascinates you, and, frankly, you want to find out what it is.


	2. An Invitation

You watch Leslie carefully as he sits before you on your couch. You got him dry clothes while his are in the dryer and wrapped a blanket around him. You just made him hot chocolate, but you’ve taken the moment to study him before handing the mug over. He’s shivering. Leslie looks so little under that blanket and it makes you concerned. Does he eat enough? Do his parents or whoever he lives with take care of him? You sit down next to him and place the mug on the coffee table.

“Leslie,” you start in a careful tone. You don’t want to scare him. “What were you doing out in the middle of the road?”

Leslie’s blue eyes focus on you for a moment, before looking down at the hot chocolate you brought him. He doesn’t seemed to want to answer. You sigh and sit back, running a hand through your blond hair.

“Look, I can’t help you unless you tell me something. Anything.”

“I-I’m sick.” He confesses.

“Sick?” You ask. Leslie taps the side of his head, indicating that he means mentally sick. You already knew that. Everyone already knows that. It’s nothing new to you. Leslie was in the special classes after all. 

“I..see things s-sometimes.” he stutters out. “Scary things. S-Sometimes I..I don’t know where I am.” 

Leslie’s eyes are looking away. He can’t look at you. When he pauses in talking, he chews on the skin of his bottom lip. He’s lying. You know he’s lying. You know enough psychology to know when someone is lying to you. Maybe he’s telling the truth, but he’s lying about answering the question.

“Leslie, what were you really doing out?” you ask, trying to get the real answer from him. He looks at you, startled that you saw through him, then looks away.

“My parents w-were fighting. I-I got scared. I ran away.” 

You nod and pass him the hot chocolate. That seems much more likely and you can read from his body language that he’s not lying this time. Leslie took a few sips of the hot chocolate before setting it back down. There was a small meow as your cat came into the room and noticed there was a new face in the living room. Leslie’s eyes lit up and he seemed to bounce a little. You got up and picked up your grey tom cat and placed him on Leslie’s lap. 

“This is Aristotle. I think he likes you.” You say as you watch Aristotle curl up on Leslie’s lap. Leslie runs his hand over the cat’s back a few times, before looking up at you.

“W-Why are you being nice to me?” He asked. You shrug.

“Why not?”

“B-But you’re n-never nice. E-Everyone knows that.”

“Well I guess they were wrong.” You said, finding a smile creep onto your face. You don’t know why you’re even entertaining this thought right now. You like the idea of people thinking you’re mean and to leave you alone. It keeps you from having to be social. Why are you suddenly opening up to Leslie? It’s not like you guys were already friends. You hardly knew the kid. All you know about him is what you’ve seen in your shared English class and rumors that have floated around the school halls. Everyone has something to say about Leslie, but you assume they have a lot to say about you too.

“Leslie, do you have a place to stay tonight?” You ask.

Leslie slowly shakes his head no. 

“Why don’t you stay here tonight with me?” You offer. You cannot believe you just said that. Why did you just say that? You have so much paperwork to do and you don’t have time to be playing babysitter! Yet, you can’t imagine putting him out on the street corner. It’s raining after all. Maybe if you just put on a movie or something he’ll be pleased and won’t bother you while you work in your room. 

Leslie nods eagerly at your invitation and leans over hugging you. You’re really not comfortable with hugs, so you end up flinching when he hugs you. You don’t hug back. You just awkwardly pat his back, then pry him off.

“Okay, enough hugging. You’re sleeping here on the couch.” You grab the remote and turn on the tv to try and keep him entertained and occupied. 

“If you need anything, my room is down the hall on the left. Second door. But don’t bother me unless it’s an emergency, got it? I have work to do.” 

Leslie nods. He can’t stop smiling and it almost freaks you out a little. Why is he so happy? You get up off the couch and try and shrug the idea off. He’s just a weird kid, that’s all. Let him spend one night here to dry off and be away from his fighting parents, then it’s back out he goes and you can be rid of him. One act of kindness. That’s it. No friendship or stupid bonding. Out he’ll go. Yeah, you feel satisfied with this plan. Help him, then you’ll never see him again.

Oh how wrong you were.


	3. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry to have taken so long! I'm getting back to working on this story! I promise! Please don't give up on it yet! ovo Also! Shade is Light Woman, and Safe Head is obviously the Keeper.

Your cheeks are heating up as you walk into school. Leslie had been staying with you for a couple days actually. Not just that one night. You tried to send him home, but you just couldn’t say no to him. Your better half, the half that only Laura used to see, continued to indulge him. The only problem was that while you walked into school, Leslie was hanging onto your arm like you two were dating or something.

The funny thing about Leslie was that he was not like a normal boy aside from his mental problems. It was his personality you were thinking about when it came to his abnormality. Leslie had a strong liking for cute, furry animals and had a bunch of stuffed animals at home from what he had already told you. Leslie loved hoodies and clothing that was too big for him. Actually, loved didn’t seem like a strong enough word. He was always wearing sweat pants and extra large hoodies. Leslie had an odd fascination with pandas apparently. 

The other thing that you found out about him very quickly was that Leslie did have friends other than you, and his friends were people that shouldn’t be messed with. Leslie’s first friend was a senior girl commonly known as Shade. Shade was a beautiful girl with long black hair and pale skin. Shade always wore makeup, usually bright red lipstick, and was never caught out of a skirt, high heels, and thigh high socks or tights. Despite being in the popular crowd, and being a cheerleader, Shade could easily kick your butt no matter how big you were or how strong you were. She always acted like a mother to Leslie and the two were commonly seen together in the halls. 

The second friend Leslie was close with was the high school quarterback. His brown hair, messy and usually greasy looking, would hang in his eyes since no one ever gave him a haircut it seemed. He was a huge man, bigger than you were,  with very wide shoulders. His teammates nicknamed his Safe Head since his signature move was to bash people with his head, so the coach had ordered a helmet with extra padding to protect his head. Around Leslie, Safe Head was like a teddy bear. The little albino looked like a child next to the large football player, and you were very concerned with this fact, since Leslie decided to introduce you to Shade and Safe Head. 

Shade’s hips swished from side to side as she approached you. A bright pink gum bubble was snapped into nothing by her bright red lips. Her straight black hair was pulled back into a tight bun with a few wisps of hair framing her face. Next to her was Safe Head. He wore his letterman jacket like usual and jeans. The duo stopped in front of you and Leslie in the student lounge area. Shade put a hand on her hip, snapping her gum in her mouth.

“Who’s this, Leslie dear? Is this the boy I owe for picking you up?” Shade asked. 

Leslie nodded eagerly and latched onto your arm again. You wanted to pry him off, but truthfully, there was something about Shade that intimidated you. You’re not one to be scared. You’re Ruben Victoriano for Christ’s sake! But you know for a fact that while Safe Head would break you physically, Shade would break you mentally. She could spread a rumor through the school that could completely cripple a person. Her words were a deadly force that should never be messed with. 

Shade’s cat-like eyes look you up and down before she shifted to her other hip. Her skirt flicks to the side as she moves. Even her skirt seems to want to sass whoever is around. 

“Well, if you saved him, then I guess you’re okay, Ruben.” Shade said.

“It was really nothing,” You say, trying to move away from Leslie. “He was in the middle of the road, in the rain, at night. I really couldn’t leave him there.”

You’re suddenly pulled away from Leslie and lifted off your feet by Safe Head as he crushes you in a giant bear hug. You try and fight him, pushing at his chest, but shit this boy is strong! 

“Let him go, Safe.” Shade said. “You’ll kill Leslie’s new boy toy.”

You’re put back down on your feet and Leslie immediately hugs you around the waist. You look at him, searching for any sign on his face to tell you that he really isn’t friends with these maniacs, but his innocent blue eyes stare at you with no trace of fault. Damn it. You ruffle his white hair and he laughs happily.

“Well, I guess we’ll all be seeing more of each other then.” You say, a little bitterly.

“Friends! Friends!” Leslie cheers. “Leslie has friends!”

“Yeah, friends.” You find yourself smiling. There’s something about him that’s actually kind of charming. He only means well, and clearly Shade and Safe Head are just trying to protect him. With his condition, you wouldn’t be surprised if people tried to take advantage of him and hurt him. The idea of it almost sickens you. You know very well just how hard it is for people with mental illness or problems to try and fit in with their society. Leslie was trying his hardest to fit in and was doing a damn good job. Anyone who tried to crush his happy, childish spirit deserved to suffer.

“You feel it too?” Shade asked suddenly, pulling you from your thoughts.

“What?”

“Do you feel that protective urge too?” She crossed her arms smirking.  You look down at the boy still hugging you, and once more ruffle his white hair.

“Yeah, I do. I feel it too.”

You decide then that maybe being friends with Leslie isn’t that bad after all. Perhaps for the first time since Laura died, you might be able to have some friends. Leslie, Shade, and Safe Head don’t seem like the outcast crew that you used to view them as. Now, they appear to be kind hearted companions, ready to lend you a hand. Your cold heart begins to warm only slightly. You could get used to the idea of having friends.


	4. The Pep Rally

The gymnasium was alive with voices. It had become an ocean of faces, of smiles and laughter. The waves of people crashed against the edges of the bleachers, their voices echoing in the high ceiling where they lingered before returning to the lower levels of the room. Today was spirit day at Crimson High School which meant another pep rally for every student. Everyone in Crimson High School went all out for pep rallies and spirit days, wearing their white and red shirts, displaying the well known lion mascot. Everyone, that was, but you.

You  _ hated  _ pep rallies. You hated all the noise, the screaming kids, the teachers and their fake happy attitudes. It annoyed you so badly. However, here you were in the bleachers with everyone else, partly because you had no other choice, but mostly because Leslie loved pep rallies. He fit into the school colors very well, and you had to admit, he looked good in red. Leslie wore a red tee with the Crimson High lion on it, and he had cat whiskers and a dot on his nose to look like a cat. He cheered at your side eagerly while the teachers waited for all the students to be in the gym.

“This seat taken, sweetie?” A voice asked. You looked over to see Shade and Safe Head moving into your row and sitting next to Leslie. You were positive Shade’s outfit was breaking all kinds of dress code rules, but clearly she didn’t care. Shade’s long black hair was in a ponytail today, held up by a red bow. She had on the same cat whisker makeup as Leslie, and her lips were bright red as always. Shade’s skirt was red with white trim and was clearly not the right length, but the truth was hidden by her red and white striped tights. Just like Leslie, she wore a red tee with the Crimson High lion on it. 

Safe Head, also in cat make up, just wore his football jersey and letterman jacket. You weren’t surprised that he didn’t deck himself out like the other two. Football players had a nasty of habit of assuming that their presence and service to the team was enough school spirit to be seen as acceptable by their peers. You just didn’t give a shit about any of it. You did not dress up for pep rallies or do anything stupid like draw cat whiskers on your face. 

“So, how are you today, Ruben?” Shade asked, putting one knee over the other. She sits up straight and looks right over Leslie to see you. You roll your eyes.

“Wishing I wasn’t here. I hate pep rallies.” You say.

“I’m surprised. With your grades and reputation, I would have thought that you would have loved pep rallies, you teacher’s pet.” Shade flipped her ponytail some, as if it was hanging in her face or something. There’s something about her that just gets under your skin. You don’t like hanging around her and you try to avoid her as much as possible, but she keeps hanging around Leslie like she owns him or something. Frankly, it pisses you off. She doesn’t own him. Why does she hover around him like some kind of killer bird? Leslie wasn’t just a piece of meat.

You don’t get to make a reply to obnoxious comment. The statistics teacher, who is also the leader of the student council, begins addressing the school through a mic, trying to get people hyped up for the pep rally. You look over at Leslie and notice his attitude has changed. He was no longer cheering. He looked nervous. Leslie was chewing on his bottom lip and there was worry in his pale blue eyes. 

“Leslie?” You asked. “Are you okay?” 

Leslie looks at you and speaks, but his small voice is drowned out by the screams all around you. Leslie covers his ears, trying to block out the noise. It was louder than before now that the teachers were hyping them up. You look over and see the cheerleaders beginning their routine on the floor, but your attention turns back to Leslie. What caused him to change? Was it just too loud?

Suddenly, one of the speakers exploded. Flames ripped from the metal, growing higher as another speaker blew. The screams changed from excitement to fear. You find yourself on your feet. You hear the sound of the fire bell beginning to go off as the smoke reaches a fire detector. Students are being evacuated from the gym to the best of the teachers’ abilities while attempts to put out the fire are being made. The lights suddenly go out and you can hear the glass of the bulbs shattering. You pull the hood up on your hoodie to try and protect yourself from falling glass. What the hell is happening!?

Leslie is crying, trembling, and he reaches for you when Shade tries to move him. You pick him up like a child and hurry down the bleachers with Shade and Safe Head. It’s not safe in the gym anymore. Some kind of wiring must have gone haywire, causing everything in this area to overload and go out. Anything left could go at any moment. 

On your way out, you notice that the flames have already been put out by the fire extinguishers, but you’re not willing to take the chance of getting hurt by anything else. You feel Leslie nuzzling into your shoulder, his tears not stopping. You carefully sit down and rub his back, trying to comfort him. Both of you are safe now. The danger of the fire had passed and the faulty electricity will be looked at by the fire department and fixed. It was bound to go at some point, seeing how the school building was pretty old. The timing of it however was awful.

“Leslie?” You ask. “Are you alright?”

Leslie moved back some and he nods. You wipe away the tears still running down his pale cheeks. He wraps his arms around your neck and hugs you again. You let out a little sigh and hug him back. Your hand finds its way to holding the back of his head, your fingers entangling themselves into Leslie’s soft white hair. You rest your mouth on the top of his head, trying to comfort him. The scent of his hair, of him, fills your nose and you almost feel a warm sensation fill you when you breathe it in. Your heart begins to ache.

Laura. 

Leslie reminds you Laura. That’s why you’ve been so willing to help him and be near him. His mannerisms, the way he acts, Leslie reminds you of Laura and it hurts so bad. This situation was too much like when you lost Laura. Flame licking up towards the ceiling, the screaming, the feeling of fear and panic. He shook his head some trying to get rid of the memory. Now was not the time to think about it, but it just wouldn’t leave your head. You stop hugging Leslie, but you don’t remove him. You just can’t do this. You shouldn’t have let him get close to you like this. 

You make up your mind. You will rid yourself of Leslie and his friends. You must continue on your own. It’s the only way to keep your sanity. It has to be.


End file.
